The Illusions of Love
by Zannna
Summary: Bella is starting to think that Edward's love in just an illusion.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Chapter 1: Bella Barbie!

Bella stood staring at herself in the mirror. She didn't recognize the woman in her reflection. She used to be this shy young teen, who kept to herself, and was independent. Hell, she took care of her mother for years. She made all the decisions, paid the bills, kept Renee from killing herself in some foolish attempt at a good time.

Now she had all of her decisions made for her. What to wear, where she went, when she worked, who she hung out with. And she pretended not to care. To be fair, in the beginning, she didn't care. Just as long as she had _him_ with her, Edward with her, she didn't care about anything else. She let him and his sister Alice mold her into what they wanted. A pliant friend and girlfriend, dressed how they wanted, acting how they wanted, doing what they wanted.

She followed whatever Edward said, every patronizing excuse he used she let roll off her back. He had been alive five times longer than her, surely he knew what was best? Every action he took, everything he did was for her wasn't it? To keep her happy and safe? Ever since she had gotten back from Italy, and the Cullen's had returned to Forks, she was just so happy, and relieved to have them all back, that she did whatever Edward and Alice asked of her.

She cut her hair, and added highlights because Alice said it had looked 'sloppy.' She threw out most of her wardrobe because Alice said it wasn't good enough for a future Cullen. She looked down at her left hand at _the_ ring. She agreed to marry Edward after untold amounts of whining and badgering. Alice was taking care of all the planning; Alice had even picked out her dress. Sometimes she thought that maybe Alice should marry Edward. This whole thing seemed way more important to them than it was to her.

To her the idea of marriage so soon after graduating High School was horrifying. She felt bad whenever she was at the Cullen's talking or thinking about her wedding, and Jasper was in the vicinity. She could see the effect her emotions had on him. Her fear, her indecision, her urge to flee. Sometimes she would feel out and out panic. She was trapped, and there was no escape. But Edward was worth it right? Being with him and his family for all eternity was worth one little wedding, right? She could see Jasper struggling to block her feelings, her doubts, out. Bella had no clue how he managed to keep her emotions from Edward and Alice, but if they knew certainly they would say something?

She kept coming back to that day in the woods when Edward left her. He had lied to her, she knew that now. But did that make it any better? Did that absolve him of his sins in leaving her? Bella was starting to think it didn't. After all he broke his word to her. She didn't care that 'technically' he didn't break his word. He had said he wouldn't leave her 'as long as being with her was what was best for her.' Wording it like that in the first place was a dishonest manipulation in her eyes. To her it meant that he knew he would leave her some day 'for her own good.' He treated her like a child who didn't know what she wanted, who couldn't make her own choices. If he loved her so much, wouldn't he respect her opinions, and her wishes? Regardless of his profession of love throughout, how could he have broken her like that, so thoroughly, so completely, if she was it for him? If she was his mate, his forever, how could he intentionally hurt her, break her, so utterly?

An insane thought flitted through her mind. Did he brake her, like a horse is broken? Tear her down until her self worth is so non-existent that he could swoop back in, and build her up again in the manner he saw fit? The perfect little wife. Bella looked down at her dress. Alice had picked it out of coarse. It was designer, who she wasn't sure. It was made out of pink and cream tulle, draped around her upper body snugly, and on her left hip there was a spray of huge pink tulle flowers. The dress ended right above her knees, in a poufy froth of itchy material. The dress was light and fluffy, and she looked like the tooth fairy. Her shoes were kitten heels, thank the heavens, Alice had tried to get her to wear spiked, but had a vision of that not turning out well. Still they were covered in appliqué sequins and bedazzled with rhinestones. The dress might as well have been made out of lead for the weight it put on her shoulders. Her hair was curled into tight cork screws. She felt like a cross between Shirley Temple, Little Bo Peep, and the afore mentioned Tooth Fairy.

Tonight was her and Edwards engagement party. Her father Charlie had insisted on taking them all out to dinner at the Country club between Forks and Port Angeles. She had tried to talk him out of it, after all why waste so much money on fine food when none of the Cullen's would even be eating it? Her father didn't know they were Vampires of course, and insisted that since the Cullen's were paying for the Wedding that he would throw the Engagement party. She had a feeling she would enjoy this party more than the wedding. Her father, like her, was a simple man of simple tastes. The whole party would consist of dinner at the club, and the opening of a few presents. If only the wedding could be so simple and tasteful.

"Bella? Are you ready, love? We need to leave soon, or we'll be late." Called Edward through the door. Bella was in his bathroom trying to psych herself up for the party.

"I'll be out in a minute, Edward." She said back. She didn't need to raise her voice, he would hear her fine even if she whispered. Bella blinked at herself in the mirror, and was almost blinded by the sparkly eye shadow. Alice had done her makeup as well, and she looked like a two dollar hooker on New Year's Eve. All dark eyeliner, and glitter. She would have to stay away from any heat or open flame tonight: All the hairspray, glitter, and tulle would make her go up like a dried Christmas tree covered in napalm if she wasn't careful. Was it wrong of her to feel a spark of hope at the thought of burning to death? That was it, something had to give or she was going to go completely insane.

Bella took a deep breath, and turned to open the door. _Here's hoping I can make it through tonight without pulling my, freakishly done, hair out._ She thought.


	2. Chapter 2: Respect!

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Chapter 2: Respect!

We were sitting at a big table in a private dinning room at the Country Club. My dad wasn't a member, but had been invited to come whenever he wanted ever since he had gone above and beyond to save the owners granddaughter after a car accident. Apparently he dove off of a bridge into ice cold water after the minivan, and went straight for the baby in her car seat. Yeah, my dad was awesome.

We had just finished ordering, everyone got steak, most of them 'rare.' Mine was well done; me and blood don't mix well. Which is funny considering I'm marrying a Vampire, and am going to be turned into one after the wedding. Sitting in this dress was torture. It was so poufy that I had to squish the skirt down just to fit under the table. Edward was beaming in joy at his family and Charlie. Charlie was trying not to scowl too much. He hated Edward, but was making a valiant effort to be civil.

With the way Edward was looking at me, all adoring, and slightly patronizing, I felt like I was his prize poodle or something. My love for him was the same as it ever was, and maybe that was the problem. I loved him enough to risk my life just by being with him, to lie to my father who only wanted what was best for me. I had loved him so completely, and when he left me that didn't change. When he came back I still loved him like he had never left. But not _more_ than I had before he left. I had grown up some since he left me, but my love for him hadn't changed at all. The maturity I had achieved through the months he had been gone, made me realize that the love I felt for him wasn't as all consuming as I had believed. It was everything to me as a seventeen year old, but I was almost nineteen now, and I could see how shallow and superficial that love had been.

Lately I'd realized how disrespectful it was of me, and Edward, to lie to my father like we had been. I mean, of coarse I couldn't say anything about the Cullen's being Vampires, but lying to him about being at the Cullen's to sleep over with Alice, when I was really sleeping in his room with Edward, and Edward sneaking into my room to sleep in my bed, just seemed wrong. Charlie had only ever wanted me to be happy and safe, and lying to him about this, disrespecting him as my father, and in his own house no less, was starting to eat at me.

At the very least Edward should have been mature enough, being decades older than me, to realize how disrespectful we were being to my father. Carlisle and Esme, as the parental figures, should have stepped in to say how wrong it was to lie to Charlie unnecessarily. The only people to say anything about it, weirdly enough, were Rosalie and Jasper. Edward shut them down quickly though. I was _his mate_ after all.

In this moment, staring across the table at my loveable, and devoted father, I realized that I was treating him similar to how Edward and Alice were treating me. Like I knew what was best for him, and made decisions based on what _I_ thought, what _I_ wanted, not respecting his point of view or opinions. I owed Charlie more than this. More respect, and more consideration.

The food arrived, and I set to cutting into my delicious smelling steak. A hand appeared above mine, and took my steak knife away. I looked up to see Edward as he pulled my plate toward himself.

"Let me, love. I don't want you to hurt yourself." He said.

I stared at him incredulously. "I can cut my own meat Edward."

He smiled at me like I was a cute, yet stupid child. "Of coarse you can, love," he said patronizingly as he cut up my steak. "But, I would feel better if I did it. This knife is very sharp."

"The steak knife is sharp? No way!" I said sarcastically. "I'm not a child, Edward. Give me back my knife."

"Just calm down, Bella. I'm almost done here," he said as he continued to mince my steak. He was cutting it into itty bitty pieces. My delicious steak was being murdered!

"Are you going to chew it for me too?" I said with venom in my voice. "There might be hidden gristle, and I could choke to death."

He looked at me considering, "No dear, this is a good cut. There isn't very much gristle. "

My eyes widened incredulously. _Seriously?_ I thought. "Edward," I said as calmly as I could, "Give me my knife back, and step away from the steak."

He quickly finished his ruination of a prime cut of perfectly cooked and seasoned beef. I looked at the hashed up steak on my plate with actual pain. I was so looking forward to eating that, and now it was destroyed!

My dad cleared his throat. "Have you no respect for a good steak, boy?" I was still speechless in my growing rage. I looked surreptitiously at Jasper across the table. He looked like he was trying to warn Edward off, but at the same time he seemed resigned. He knew I was about to blow.

"Surely you don't want her to choke, Charlie? You know how accident prone she is. I had to cut it small enough not to choke her." Edward said.

My breathing was fast and shallow, and my heart was pounding out of my chest. Charlie looked at me with apprehension; He knew what was coming. It was rare for me to blow up, very rare, but he knew the signs. Like one would smell smoke and think 'fire, run!' my dad saw the impending explosion and wanted to be elsewhere. But, being the kind of man he is, he stayed to support me.

"Firstly, _Edward_," Charlie said, "don't talk about Bella like she's not right here." he looked over at me. Charlie knew I hated that. "Secondly, Bella is almost nineteen years old. She can cut her own damn meat!" I knew my dad knew that I was still in the incredulous/ speechless stage, and was trying to help defuse the Bella bomb. No such luck.

I took a breath to say something, but was interrupted by Edward. As he spoke across me, I saw Charlie and Jasper both cringe. Looked like Jasper knew what was coming too. "I can speak for Bella, if I wish to. That is what husbands do. Maybe if you had had more control of Renee she wouldn't have left you," Edward was saying. I think a vessel in my eye just ruptured from the sheer amount of _pissed off_ I was suffering. "I know what is best for her, she's _mine_. Besides, since when do you care about her? You're always too busy fishing and watching television to even know her anymore." Edward said this with a sneer on his face.

My brain was in meltdown. _Oh, no he DIDN'T!_ He just insulted Charlie, and intimated that my father didn't care about me. That was it. I was _done_. I stood so abruptly that my chair would have fallen over if Edward hadn't caught it.

"Watch it, love," he said. "You'll hurt yourself."

I looked around the table. It was a shame I had an audience, but I didn't really care. After all Edward had shown enough disrespect for me, my father, and his family to start this, and I was damn well going to finish it!


	3. Chapter 3: Fire In the Hole!

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Chapter 3: Fire In The Hole!

Edward reached for me, and I jerked back. "No! You don't get to touch me!" I hissed. His eye brows furrowed in confusion, and he opened his mouth to speak. "No!" I repeated, "It's _my_ turn to talk now!" He rolled his eyes. He _rolled his eyes_ at me!

"How _dare_ you insult my father like that?" my voice was a low hiss, and it shook with the ferocity of my anger. "I have let you treat me like an invalid child, and I took it because I thought that I loved you enough. I thought that you would eventually start treating me better, especially after I agreed to marry you! But us being engaged hasn't improved our relationship! It seems that now you think you have me; That I'm yours to do with as you please, you've been treating me even worse! With _more_ disrespect, if that's even possible!" I was still breathing heavily, and now my voice was raising into a shout.

"But you do not get to insult my _father_! He has never wanted anything more than for me to be happy! He _loves_ me, and _respects_ me enough to trust that I know what I want. He has been working _so_ hard to be decent to you, even though we both know he hates you! And I'm starting to see why! It must be devastating for Charlie to see how you treat his only daughter! My father wants what is best for me, and I'm beginning to think he _knows_ it's not you! But he respects me enough to let me make my _own_ mistakes, so that I can learn and grow!" Edward was standing now too, and I was yelling up into his face.

"But," Edward said in a soothing manner, "I don't want you getting hurt. That's why husbands make the decisions, so that their wife's won't make any mistakes and get hurt."

"People change, Edward!" I exclaimed. "People learn, and grow, and adapt! You can't learn if you can't make mistakes! Do you just want me sitting around, catering to your every whim, safe and sound, and board out of my mind? That is not a life! That is not living!"

Edward's eyes narrowed, and he started to look annoyed. "Stop this right now Isabella!" he said sternly. "You are acting like a child, and embarrassing me!"

Charlie had stood up now as well. "You're doing a fine job of that all on your own there, Edward." He said gruffly. His face was getting red, and I could tell he was pissed. "In case you haven't noticed this is the Twenty-first Century, not 1910! I would appreciate it if you would stop treating my daughter like she is a misbehaving animal!"

"Shut up, Old Man!" said Edward. 'Old Man?' Look who's talking asshole! "This is between me, and my fiancé! It is none of your concern, she is _**MINE!**_ so sit down, and stay out of it!" Charlie's face was so red it looked like he was about to have an aneurism.

Esme jumped to her feet next. "Edward Anthony Mason Cullen! How dare you disrespect Chief Swan, and Bella like that! Apologize to them immediately!" she hissed. I think I saw a little bit of venom spray from her mouth in her anger and outrage.

Edward scoffed, and looked at Carlisle "Can't you control your wife, father?" he said.

Carlisle stayed seated, always the diplomat, and said authoritatively, "No I can't, nor do I wish to. Esme has always been, and always will be, an equal partner in our marriage. I will not admonish her like a child, and neither will you if you know what's good for you." He looked at Edward with disappointment on his face. "Have you forgotten everything I taught you, son? I have never treated you mother in the manner you are treating Isabella. I have never taught you to disrespect women, or your elders. I have shown you the proper way to act in a marriage; to act as a man. How can you love Bella, like you say you do, and treat her with so little respect?"

"I treat her with plenty of respect!" shouted Edward. "I keep her safe, I make sure she eats and sleeps, I teach her how to behave, I make sure she's clean and presentable! I take very good care of her!"

"Edward!" I spat at him, "Are you even hearing yourself? You're making me sound like a bitch at a dog show!"

"Watch you language, Isabella! Swearing is very unbecoming!" Edward reproached me.

"I was using 'bitch' as a technical term you ass!" He opened his mouth to no doubt tell me how 'un-ladylike' I was being again. "No! Shut your mouth, for once Edward, and let me talk!" I continued before he could start scolding me again, "I have _never_ seen your father or your brothers treat their wives in such a discourteous manner. Carlisle loves Esme so much he would never treat her in such a boorish fashion. Jasper would never treat Alice with anything less than love and admiration! If Emmet even _thought_ of treating Rosalie as you have treated me this evening, she would rip him apart, and burn the pieces! My mother _left_ my father, and ran away, and he has never disrespected her in any way! They may have been apart, but I never doubted their love and respect for me, or each other. I know Carlisle and Esme never taught you to act this way! What is wrong with you?"

"Maybe I want my wife to be to me what my _real_ mother was to my _real_ father, instead of letting her walk all over me like the women in my adopted family walk all over their husbands!" Edward exclaimed. There was a simultaneous sharp intake of breath from everyone in the room.

I recovered first saying: "Bullshit!" Everyone turned to look at me again. "I call bullshit! I've heard about your mother from Carlisle! She was a strong loving woman! Why would you paint her, and your father, in such a dim light? Where were you after you left me? Some kind of sparkly mystical opium den? Sucking on drunk and stoned animals? Is your supposedly superior brain completely fried?" I turned to Carlisle, "Is there some kind of nuclear test site in Brazil near where he was staying? Could a massive dose of radiation have done this to him?" I turned back to look up at Edward raising my eyebrow, "And most importantly, is there anyway to fix it?"

Jasper raised his hand, and stood slowly. "I hate to break it to you Bella," he said. "But he's kinda always treated you like this, he's just being more forceful and open about it now." He looked between me and Edward, and then slowly sat back down.

I blinked, and thought about it. Jasper was right. I had just been thinking about this earlier, but he had never been this bad before. And I didn't even realize, before he left, that he was treating me this way. In such a controlling, obsessive manner. He stalked me for Heaven's sake! Snuck into my room to watch me sleep without me knowing about it. Was I so dazzled by him that let him get away with treating me like this? Did I really think so little of myself? Yes, I did. I remember how I thought him so far above me, that I didn't know why he would want me. When he broke up with me, shattered me I should say, I believed every word. Of course I wasn't good enough for him! They were leaving without me? Why shouldn't they? I was nothing compared to them! I had grown some self respect, and a fledgling spine while they were gone. Hell, if I didn't have _some kind_ of spine I would have pissed myself, crawled into a corner muttering nonsense, and rocking myself when we met the Volturi! I didn't even faint!

I looked around the room. Rosalie had a bit of a smirk on her face, but it wasn't aimed at me. No, it was aimed squarely at Edward.

Edward stiffened, "Stop it, Rose! She most certainly _will_ still marry me!" he growled out through his teeth.

"Not now that her eyes are open, Edward," said Rosalie smugly. "You're going to have to find a new little toy to obsess over and play with." She chuckled.

Well, some things never do change! It was good to see Rosie was still such a bitch.

"She made an agreement with me, Rose!" he seethed. "She promised herself to me, and that is not something she can just back out of! She's _mine_," here he turned back to me, "And she will behave like it!" He yelled this in my face.

Before he left me, I would have broken in to hysterical tears, at having him yell in my face. At having disappointed him. Oh, but now, he had disappointed me beyond the telling of it.

"In case you haven't noticed _Edward,_ it isn't 1918 anymore." I said in an amazingly calm manner. "My honor won't be besmirched, and my reputation won't be ruined if I break off an engagement. Especially an engagement based on false pretenses, and coercion." I grabbed my engagement ring in my right hand, and pulled it off. I slammed it down on the table. "Here is your collar, your brand. You can have it back. I don't want it anymore. _I don't belong to you!_"

I went to turn away and walk out the door of the private dinning room. Thank heavens none of the servers had come in during the argument! Maybe they heard yelling, and decided to give us a minute. Of coarse, when I spun around on my heel quickly, I tripped over my own feet and started falling towards the floor. I was caught just before I face planted by a pair of cold hands. Just not the pair I was used to. Emmet, who had been sitting at the end of the table, pulled me up and let me go once I was steady on my feet.

"Thank you," I told him softly. I looked down at my feet that were covered in a sparkly abomination that vaguely resembled a shoe. I toed them off, and bent to pick them up. Then I turned to look at Alice. "Alice, I love you, you know that." I took a deep breath, and let it out. "But I can't keep being your Barbie Doll. If you want to shop with me, and help me buy clothes, you're going to have to compromise and meet me in the middle. I can't make myself wear another 'New Year's Eve/ Disco/ Cheap Hooker Barbie!' outfit. I just can't."

Alice's eyebrows scrunched up. She looked confused. I thought she would be hurt. Now _I_ was confused. "You didn't pick that out?" she asked in her high, tinkling voice.

"No," I said in confusion. "I'd have to be pretty stoned to pick out something like this, Alice."

Alice turned to glare at Edward. "You are one sick monkey you know that?" she asked him. Up till this point Edward had been standing there with a stunned and pissed off look on his face, staring at the ring I had put on the table. He didn't move, or acknowledge Alice in any way. Alice huffed, and stood to come over to me. She stood in front of me and took my hands in hers.

"Bella," she said softly, "Edward told me you wanted this dress. After Italy, he brought me a whole bunch of magazine clippings, and pictures, and said you showed them to him. He said you were to embarrassed to tell me what you liked. That you would feel more comfortable if he told me, and I got what you wanted." I was shocked to say the least! My eyebrows had disappeared into my frizzy bangs. "Ever since we got back, I thought I _had_ been compromising with you! I thought this is what you wanted! He showed me clippings and picture of clothes, shoes, makeup, hairstyles," Here she shuddered, and her voice sounded morally offended, like he had been showing her _dirty_ pictures, "I was horrified, but I just wanted to make you happy! He even had some collages and dioramas with pictures of you dressed up in the ghastly, vile, foul, _evil_ stuff! I figured after a few decades with us, you would absorb some fashion sense. You know, through osmosis or something!"

Holy mother of cocoa beans! That bastard! I had been humoring Alice all this time in the name of sisterly love! The horror! The things I had worn! I had a horrible flashback to the outfit she had me wear to go to the movies a couple weeks ago. It was a pseudo school girl ensemble, with a long skirt and a hair bow! It was in pink and purple plaid! "Oh, Alice!" I cried out, "Thank Vintage Chanél that you didn't pick out all that horrible stuff! I was worried you were starting to lose it! You had never put me in plaid before! Oh, I should have seen it sooner! I'm so sorry!" I threw myself at her in an enthusiastic hug.

"Oh, Bella!" she cried back to me, "I thought I had lost you! Your fashion sense had regressed past anything I have ever seen before on a sane, sober person! I didn't know what to do!" she sobbed. "I couldn't believe my _sister_ could commit such horrid fashion atrocities!" We held each other in relief and joy for a moment, and then Alice pulled back and took my hand.

"Come with me," she said. "We're going to the ladies to see what we can do to fix this," she looked at my dress and hair and shuddered again, "Disaster!"

BANG!

There was a huge crash from behind me. We both whipped around, and Alice stood slightly in front of me in a protective manner. Edward had slammed his fist into the table. Several glasses had spilled, and a candle had fallen over. Luckily Jasper was right in front of it, and he grabbed it and blew it out before it could hit the table and set it on fire.

"You will do _NO SUCH THING ALICE!_" Edward roared. "Isabella, you will put your ring back on, and sit down _right now_," he gritted out through clinched teeth, "Or, _so_ help me _God_!"

Emmett, Jasper, Carlisle, and _Charlie_ ( How in the hell had he moved so fast?) were suddenly in front of Alice and I. Carlisle was on point just a little in front of my dad, and they were both flanked by Emmett and Jasper. Alice was pushing me backwards toward the door.

"What Edward?" asked Charlie. "What are you going to do?" He had this evil little smile on his face that I have never seen before, and he was fingering his obscenely large service revolver. That was new, and _a whole lot bigger_ than his last one. "Just give me a reason to shoot you, boy. _Please._"

"Alice, Bella, please go on. We'll take it from here." said Carlisle. I had never heard him sound so angry before. Esme was crying, and shaking. Rose had her hand on her mother's shoulder while she glared fire and brimstone at Edward.

Usually I would argue, but I wanted out of there. I had never been scared of Edward before. But, as I thought through everything that had been said, I was _terrified_. The controlling, domineering behavior was bad enough, but he had been dressing me up like some kind of Stepford Wife / Blow up doll. On _crack_. I walked slowly backwards with Alice to the door, and exited the room. Alice shut the door behind/ in front of us.

She looked up at me. "Don't worry Bella," she said softly, "Everything will work out."

"Do you really know that? Have you seen something?" I asked sadly.

"No, I haven't. My visions of you and Edward have been very erratic since we got back from Italy. I still see you happy, and as a vampire, though the rest is very blurry." She started leading us towards the ladies room, and I followed her, deep in thought.


	4. Chapter 4: The Monster

A/N: Here is chapter 4! As always I have no Beta so any mistakes are mine. This chapter is rated M for language, innuendo, and violence.

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Chapter 4: The Monster

When Alice and I got to the ladies room she swiftly locked the door. I raised my eyebrow at her.

"The bathroom is empty, and I don't want anyone coming in. We don't need any interruptions while I try to fix this fashion catastrophe!" she exclaimed. She pulled me toward the row of sinks, and stepped back contemplating.

Then she stepped forward, and promptly reached her hands up my skirt. "Alice," I squeaked jumping back. "What are you doing?"

She sniffed haughtily at me. "Please, it's not like I was trying to cop a feel!" she said. "Just hold still, and I'll have this over with as quickly as possible. Trust me."

"That's what _he_ said," I snarked. I think I may have been hanging out with teenage werewolves too much. Their crude was rubbing off on me. Alice raised an un-amused eyebrow at me. I sighed, and nodded. Alice stepped forward, and stuck her hands up under my skirt again. I held still, and was rewarded when her hands stopped on my waist, where the abundance of tulle was attached to the dress. She gripped some fabric firmly, and tugged. There was a flurry of ripping fabric, and blurring Vampire.

When Alice stepped back her arms were full of pink and cream ruffles, and my dress was laying flat against my legs. She stuffed the scraps into the trash, and regarded me again. "These 'flowers' should go as well," she said complete with hand quotes. She stepped forward, and using her nails as a seem ripper, unraveled the horrendous decorations.

When she was finished, and had disposed of these scraps as well, I turned to the mirror. My dress looked way better. The color was still awful, but I no longer looked like a float at the Macy's Day Parade circa 1952. From the neck down at least. I grimaced at my reflection.

Alice came up from rummaging in her purse, and produced a brush and a small squeeze bottle. "Here, I was going to give this to you after dinner," she said as she handed me the bottle. "It's maximum strength make up remover."

I turned on the sink, and washed my hands as Alice pulled down my hair, and brushed it out. It looked like a fight with Wylie Coyote, and The Tasmanian Devil as she moved around my head at lightning speed. When she finished my hair looked better, but it was still frizzy and uncooperative. I squeezed some face cleanser into my hand, and Alice held my hair for me before I could even ask her. Just a perk of having a psychic best friend!

After I washed my face, Alice had me wet down my hair. I dried off my face while she squeezed the excess water out of my hair, and then brushed through it again. She finally decided to brush it straight back, and let it hang down my back.

"There!" Alice exclaimed happily. "It's not perfect, but it's the best I can do with what we were given." She handed me some light pink lip gloss, and I dabbed some on. I looked simple but elegant. Good enough. As I stood there looking into the mirror I felt like a weight had been lifted from my shoulders. I noticed I was rubbing my left ring finger. My hand didn't feel naked, or empty without Edward's ring. It felt warm, and alive. I felt alive for the first time in too long.

"Oh!" said Alice. She grabbed my shoes from where I had placed them next to the sink, and broke the heels off. "That's the best I can do with these. Here," she said and held them out for me to put on. They still looked ugly, and felt weird, but I found I could balance a lot better in them now.

I smiled at Alice, and took a deep breath. "Let's get back out there." I said.

We walked back into the private dinning room, and everything went quiet when we entered. It looked like tempers were still high. My dad's face was magenta by this point. Edward narrowed his eyes as he looked at me.

"What have you done to your dress, Bella?" he hissed. If he was gonna start up with his bullshit again, I was going to leave altogether.

"Nothing," said Alice. "I'm the one who tried to fix it, but as you can see it was pretty much unsalvageable." She huffed.

"But _oh so much_ better than it was before," drawled Rosalie.

Edward growled made an aggressive move toward Alice, and the next thing I knew Jasper had him pinned to the wall by his throat. The most frightening sound I had ever heard came from Jasper's chest. It was like the growling I had heard from the family before, but it was louder, deeper and more feral. My dad looked somewhat bewildered, but moved to stand behind Jasper anyways. He loved Alice like a second daughter, and was just about as happy about Edward's aggression toward her as he was about Edward's disrespect towards me.

When Jasper spoke it was a low growl, and there was nothing human about it. "You even _think_ of touching my wife again, _boy_, and I'll rip off your useless dick and shove it straight up your uptight pansy _ass_."

I blushed at the disturbing visual, and I'm sure there was a moue of distaste on my face.

At this point the whole family started squabbling like a group of tweens over a pair of Justin Beiber's underwear. Yeah, it was that ugly. No one was paying attention to me anymore. I decided I had had enough drama, and quietly slipped out of the room.

At this point I think what I really needed was some fresh air, so I headed to the exit I had seen near the ladies room. As I stepped out into the cold I took a deep breath. I smelled chill, rain, and green. It soothed me, and I decided to take a walk. Maybe I could make it most of the way home before anyone noticed I was missing. I stepped into the woods behind the restaurant, and started a slow stroll toward, what I hoped was, home.

It must have been only five or so minutes later that Edward popped up in front of me. I squeaked and jumped back. "What are you doing here Edward?" I asked. "Just leave me alone, I've had _enough_!"

I stepped around him to keep walking, but I heard him turn and come after me. He grabbed my right arm and pulled me around to face him. His grip was too tight, and I knew I would have some spectacularly ugly bruises come morning. He looked truly freighting there in the moonlight. His eyes were black and narrowed, his lips that used to give me his special smirk that made me melt, was drawn into an ugly snarl. There was venom dripping out of his mouth and down from his chin, and to me he had never looked more like a Vampire. A monster. I was truly frightened of him for the first time ever.

"_I_ will tell you when you've had enough! You are _mine_, and you will do what _I_ say! If you won't obey me then you aren't good for anything!" Edward hissed in my face. His eyes diverted to my neck. "Well, maybe one thing. If I can't have you like I want you, then I can at least have your _blood_." His words were slurred with the amount of venom foaming out of his mouth. Suddenly rabies was looking more and more likely. He released my arm to gently caress the pulse points in my neck.

I turned and bolted like a scared rabbit. Even though part of me knew it wouldn't do any good, I couldn't help it. So _this_ was the fabled survival instinct. I guess I have some sense of self preservation after all! I heard a low menacing laugh from where I had left Edward behind me.

"Run all you want!" he called after me. "It will just make your blood taste sweeter." He cooed.

I felt like I had fallen down a rabbit hole, or into The Twilight Zone. Who was this crazy freak behind me? It couldn't be _Edward_! Had he changed so very much since he left me? Or has he been like this, under the surface, all along? I knew I would never know the truth. I would be dead very shortly.

Suddenly, I felt a vice close on my right arm and wrench me violently backwards, and around. I heard the *crack* of breaking bone, and heard what had to be the tearing of flesh. The pain in my arm crashed into me at the same time Edward lunged for my neck. Then everything was pain.


End file.
